Preparing Your High School Grad For The College Experience

Let's admit it, while we as parents may be looking forward to getting those pesky teenagers out of our hair and gone to school in the fall, we will also have to face the fact that this is a stepping stone to their adult life and once they are properly enrolled at the college of their choice things will never again be the same. Of course, this is a change that cannot be avoided and as a parent is an occasion that is marked by both pride and anguish.

Giving up your child at this time doesn't mean that you need to drop them off at the college campus in August and then forget they ever were around for the next few months. To the contrary, your goal and role will be to guide them through this transition. To give them with the support they need to be successful and the shoulder to cry on for every bump in the road.

Before you begin packing the suitcases and boxes and choosing the dormitory supplies you will need to prepare your child mentally for the road ahead. There are many challenges to this new beginning and there will be some hiccups as they go along. They will face financial challenges along with emotional ones. Many will be alone without familiar supports for perhaps the very first time in their lives, and this means that they may wind up calling Mom or Dad to help guide them through a problem or crisis.

It is at this point that parents must proceed with caution and not put out the welcome flag and invite their student to come running home. Within a few days most issues, even the really serious ones, begin resolving themselves so it is best to listen actively to your student and encourage them to figure out their own plan of action without attempting to rescue them. A large part of becoming an adult is to learn to take care of your own issues.